Pitch-black spacious office.
Flickering computer screen.
Steady clickety-clack of the computer.
The room was an exact replica of the office where Head Cipher held his holographic meetings inside the Asterisk. It had the same white couch, marbled table, a ceiling fan spanning two-meters... even the books lined up in the bookshelves were exactly the same.
A faint humming could be heard coming from the room. If one looked a little bit harder, they would barely recognize a distinct human-like figure in front of the computer that steadily produced a constant tapping on its keyboard.
"So they defeated an Outclass humanoid that easily, huh. Moreover, that other group looks promising as well." The figure snickered as his death-like smile was emphasized underneath his hood. "I guess the Runners Survivors this year would be pretty promising."
Suddenly, the door to the room opened, and in came the strong light from the corridors, flooding the room with it.
"GET OUT!!!" The hooded figure screamed as he lifted up a console with ease, ready to throw it at the individual who rudely intruded his room.
"My deepest apologies, Head Cipher. I came bearing news from the Eastern Ridge skirmish. It seems like the resistance found a way to immobilize our aerial, terrestrial, and hypogeal carriers. They devised some form of shock-wave that was very similar to an electromagnetic pulse, rendering the carriers of their mobility. On a good note, the humanoids' signal-jamming could prevent it so they weren't the least bit affected. Still, the resistance are steadily pushing our territorial coverage."
The man reported all these behind the door. He then went on his way after that, since he knew that Head Cipher wouldn't converse with a normal worker like him.
Meanwhile, Head Cipher paced back and forth in his room, trying to come up with a solution that would secure Asterisk in the continent. He knew that simple tricks wouldn't push the resistance back anymore. It's like a game of chess, lose the pawns and you lose half the battle.
Head Cipher casually grabbed the telephone beside his computer and dialed a set of numbers. "Greetings, Head-Cipher." The man on the other side of the telephone greeted. There was a mixture of nervousness and terror in his voice as he answered the call.
"Director?"
"Yes, Head Cipher?"
"How are the Superiors coming along?" Head Cipher asked. It's as if he's asking someone about the health of a relative but in truth, he was asking for an update of a new tool of war.
"It's about done, Head Cipher. We finally managed to create fifteen prototypes. The mass-release would still be a few weeks from now if no problems arise."
"Understandable. I would like to conduct a few practical testing for half of the prototypes. I presume it won't be... problematic?" Head Cipher confirmed, although there was a hint of a threat in his voice.
"Absolutely not, Head Cipher. We already got the complete set of blueprints to mas-produce the Superiors, the only thing we need is time."
"Delightful. I'll be expecting the prototypes to be shipped to the Asterisk by tomorrow. Since you said that it won't be a problem, I changed my mind. I would like to formally request practical testing for the rest of the prototypes."
"As you command Head-Cipher."
*click!*
Headmaster slowly put the telephone back where he got it before he started laughing like a maniac. If anyone passed by the hallway beside his room, that someone would've probably heard a menacing cackle resonating from the room.
.....
Starting Point, Southeastern part of the Inside
.
Red and his group quickly entered the base after Blond quietly opened it. They weren't expecting a pile of blankets and pillows and a surplus of junk food inside the base. The group was expecting something rundown, fearing that they would sleep on the cold concrete as they huddled together for warmth. To their relief, their expectations were shattered by the quality of the place.
It even felt homier and cozier than Block-16 where they stayed for a few days.
"Just grab a blanket or two from the pile and each of us gets a pillow," Blond instructed as the others rushed to get their share of warm blankets. "It's a good thing that there's a grocery-like area on the first floor of this building. You could get anything from there."
"There's a grocery in this building?" Red asked. "Why didn't you tell us sooner. Let's get everything we need before heading back here."
Scar set his blanket down and lay down on it, taking a deep breath in hopes that his tiredness would dissipate. "Let's get a few minutes rest and something to eat first before heading out. For all we know, there might be a few workers lingering around the grocery."
"Scar is right, we have to eat first, Red. We cannot fight on an empty stomach, after all." Blond advised, nodding at Freckles.
Freckles recognized the signal.
Blond stood up, followed by Red. "There's a restaurant beside our base and they have a complete set of equipment there. For now, let's do all the cooking over there. Fortunately, the restaurant is closed off so no one would smell the food from a mile away and follow its scent.
"I'll go with you." Red volunteered. He didn't even bother getting his share of blankets and a pillow. "We only have less than twelve hours and thinking about it is not making me feel better. At least, cooking would take my mind off of things, probably."
"Don't worry about the base. I could look after it without you guys." Gadge told them as he busily tinkered with the Lexor-450 drone. "I decided to turn this drone into a scout so we would have two scouts. This would be essential since it won't be necessary to go out and check something anymore. We could just send this drone to the open and no one would pay it no mind. After all, there are probably hundreds of them hovering around this place."
"If worse comes to worst, I'll hold them off, remember?" Scar chimed in as he gave a thumbs up to everyone.
"Thanks, Gadge, Scar, we're looking forward to it." Red said before he exited with the others.
After exiting the base, the group only had to turn around and open another set of doors to set foot inside the restaurant. The restaurant was nothing special— just a room with a countertop and a kitchen behind it. "It doesn't look all that impressive but all the kitchenwares work. At most we just need to heat up the canned goods, or we can work on a few dishes but that would take more time." Blond said as he pondered on what to do first.
"For now, we could just heat up the canned foods. Then we can cook a few dishes while we eat. That way, we won't run out of something to eat. I could also survey the first floor to see if someone would take our supplies and at the same time get a few more foodstuffs to last us the whole day."
"Sounds like a plan let's get... "
Freckles eyes widened as Red abruptly covered her mouth. "Ssh! Someone's here." Red warned them as he tiptoed towards the door to the restaurant. He cautiously opened the door and poked his head outside, looking in both directions. However, there were no signs of any movements.
Strange... I know I sensed som... !!!
Before Red could finish his line of thought, an elbow descended from above him. Red dodged by a hair's breadth as the elbow buried itself on the concrete.
Another humanoid.
"You... dodge well... Red." The humanoid spoke as it keenly stared towards Red's eyes. "I... I am looking... for.. for Blond. I demand... a-a rematch." The humanoid struggled to speak but its point came across.
Red stood in front of the humanoid and inspected it. "This humanoid is more respectable than the others," Red said as he moved his head closer to the humanoid's. "Did you say you want to fight with our Blond over here?"
"Yes, I... find him a very... s-suitable specimen for... for my real-time... learning." The humanoid responded.
Red almost laughed at the humanoid's behavior. It's like a child, asking a middle-aged person to teach him origami or something. Red said to himself.
Blond came up to Red, eyeing the humanoid with great interest. Just as he thought. It was the same humanoid he fought back in Block-16.
The server humanoid.
"Listen carefully, server humanoid." Blond spoke up, pointing a finger towards his face. "We may be different but we have similarities. Just like a humanoid lives off of its generator, we humans live off our engines. And now, my engine is nearing its limits so I need to refuel. Can you wait a few minutes?"
Blond knew that it won't work since humanoids don't have feelings per se, but on the off-chance that it would work, he decided to try it. He knew that a serve humanoid was one level smarter than the rest of them and taking that into account, he tried to reason with it.
"No fuel means... no life... so no fuel is detrimental t-to my real-time... learning. Therefore... I will wait... please h-hasten... your refueling." The humanoid said as it stood still outside the restaurant as if it's on screen-saver mode.
"Very well," Blond bade his temporary farewell to the server humanoid.
After closing the door, Blond turned his face towards Red, then to Freckles. "What did just happen?" He asked. He couldn't believe that he just reasoned it out with a server humanoid.
"I have no idea." Red shrugged as the three of them continued preparing their meals for the night.